Stop Writing Beige Posts: Why Over-Explaining Kills Content

You've written your post, but you can't quite make yourself publish it. You've edited and reworked and softened it but it still doesn't sit right.

You softened it and added a disclaimer that makes sure no one could possibly misunderstand or disagree with you. You're not hedging, right? Just making sure nobody could take it the wrong way.

Congratulations. You've written a beige post nobody wants to read. If you're pre-emptively asking your reader for permission for what you're about to say, you've already lost them. Over-explaining is a problem in your written communications as much as it is in life. It displays a lack of confidence and suggests you don't trust yourself.

In our recent Beyond The Beige series of seminars*, Carmen Simon's discussed her research on cognitive load, showing that over-explanation actually reduces retention. The more you clarify, the less your content sticks.

++ I'm Nigel. I built Ghostart and the Beige-ometer so we don't all die of beige. I help professionals publish LinkedIn posts they actually trust.

Stop Writing Beige Posts: Why Over-Explaining Kills Content

Nigel Jay Cooper

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